STEWART: What was it that made you feel so connected with China and Chinese culture that you thought, you know what, I am going to incorporate this into my music?

WASBURN: Well, for me, that’s simple. It was that China came first. China had a few years on folk music. So as soon as I started playing music, you know, as soon as that record executive walked up to me and offered me a record deal and I started becoming a professional musician, my first song I wrote was in English and my second one was literally in Chinese. It went…

(Singing in Chinese) [门外有个世界，心中有个声音，四方等你来啊，游女，游女]

And that means [门外有个世界], outside your door the world is waiting. [心中有个声音], inside your heart a voice is calling. [四方等你来啊], the four corners of the world are waiting. [游女，游女], so go get it, girl. Travel, daughter, travel.

So, for me, my creative inspiration was also in Chinese.

For a full set of Abigail Washburn’s music and a Chinese language synopsis of the artist, see Abigail Washburn: 歌唱在纳什维尔和北京之间 [Singing Between Nashville and Beijing] from Ourfolk.net.